Subjective and Objective Data in Moneyball

1762 WordsJan 26, 20187 Pages

The tension between the uses of subjective versus objective data is a literature that formulated after introduction of money ball. Researchers have been keen to dig into the usefulness of the concept posed by the book money ball. The main idea in money ball in simple terms is that statistical analyses are better predictors than our intuition. This paper will explore the literature around moneyball and its influence in management. Fist an overview of moneball, the New York Times bestseller money ball is a book about baseball, it describes how Billy Beane a general manager of the Oakland team change major league baseball by using sabermatrics a statistic approach for developing and applying objective knowledge in baseball (wolf et al 2006, 113). He used the approach to determine the traits most associated with a player’s true value and this had an important implication in the drafting, trading and compensating of players and in-game tactics such as stealing and bunting (Wright et al 2007, 250 wolf et al 2006, 113). Beane was able to maximize the efficiency of his team players by focusing on players with important traits required to winning games, rather than the traditional system of selecting players, however, this strategy was resourceful for over five years, his players were able to achieve a top standing in the league despite being outspend by nearly all their competitors (wolf et al 2006, 112). However there was some resistance in the implementation of

At its core, the book Moneyball, to me, is about leadership and overcoming resistance to change to create a sustainable competitive advantage.
In Moneyball a new General Manager challenges a traditional industry with a new paradigm. He successfully deals with the resulting resistance from the more tradition oriented employees. In the case of the Oakland A 's this has led to a substantial competitive advantage through lower costs (their payroll goes down) and improved output (the have a higher percentage